Up In The Air

Tomorrow I'm renting a car from Hertz at Luqa airport, Malta (MLA). The Hertz rental is managed by an independent operator.

I have reserved a very economical vehicle and plan to do very few miles over the course of the rental period. (I don't wish to rely on taxis.)

In the past I got stung at this airport as the operator insisted that I pay for half a tank of fuel and bring the vehicle back empty. (In my view this is a big scam, as a renter would have to drive around for the best part of a day on this tiny island to get the tank anywhere near empty.)

I really don't want to be fleeced by pre-paying $35 for fuel, using no more than $5's worth and then not getting a refund for the difference.

Can I insist that I wish to collect the car full, and bring it back full � or at the very least, bring it back with the fuel at the same level it was when I collected it, and not have to agree to pre-purchase and bring back 'empty'?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

cestmoi123

I've never heard of this sort of arrangement (essentially being forced to buy the prepay the fuel option), but, if this is a small franchise, anything's possible, I suppose. I doubt you can insist on the car being full when you pick it up, but it seems like you should be able to insist on bringing it back with the same amount of fuel in the tank as when you took it. You'll have to show proof that you refueled it, naturally.

sdsearch

You must not be familiar with how Hertz works.

It's the normal way (not something you have to "insist on") to be REQUIRED TO bring the vehicle back with the fuel tank full. You only get charged if you DON'T bring back the vehicle with the fuel tank full.

There may be an option they try to sell you for bringing back the vehicle less than full, but that's only an option, and you don't have to accept it. Some rental locations try to "hard sell" you options, but they're just options, so resist, resist, resist. It may help to sign up for Hertz Gold (or whatever it's called this week) which lets you skip the counter at some locations. Now, small locations like the one your'e referring won't have that skip the counter feature, but they should still do less "hard sell" of options if you are singed up for the "skip the counter" feature than if you are a "Hertz nobody".

This is how it works at most major rental car companies (including Hertz and Avis, in US, Europe, South America, etc). There give you a car with the tank full and expect you to return it full. (In fact, if you drive less than 75 miles, you are likely to need to show a receipt to prove that you filled it up at a gas station, or else they may charge you extra, even if the gauge says "Full".)

Enterprise is the main exception I'm aware of. They expect you to return the car with the same amount of gas that it had when you picked it up, but that can be anywhere on the gas gauge, it generally is not full. I find that Enterprise rule more confusing than the simple "return it full" rule of Hertz/Avis/etc.

Up In The Air

With respect, I have been a Hertz number 1 gold or whatever they call it for over 20 years � so am more or less familiar with Hertz's practices around the world. However, I got stung last time in MLT despite having trying to resist the hard sell � and ended up regretting having given in relatively easily.

Thank you for your advice: If they try it on again tomorrow I'll dig my heels in.

ijgordon

Well, if nothing on your reservation indicates a requirement to purchase fuel, and nothing on the rental contract indicates it either, then I'd just bring it back full. Save your refueling receipt (assuming you can even get one from gas stations on Malta), take photographic evidence of the dashboard, showing fuel gauge and odometer at the time of rental and return (and make sure the mileage matches what's on the contract).

They won't be able to charge you anything more than what's in the contract, and if they do, dispute it with your credit card company.

Now, if you get there and the contract insists on charging for fuel, well, then I suppose you can protest because it's not in the reservation, but be prepared to either pay or rent somewhere else.

And is it me, or does it sound particularly sketchy to demand you pay for a half tank but use a full tank?

E14 26C

It's the same in Jersey and Malta

Up In The Air

Thank you (at least for reinforcing that I perhaps wasn't asking such an idiotic question).

Patrick Bateman

Never had this be an issue in the US.

ijgordon

Only one person acted as such, inappropriately, of course.

rcspeirs

I understand your concern. Certain "licensee" locations play fast and loose with Hertz policies. I'd print off the fuel policy (go to Hertz web, look up location, and under 'more location details' you'll find fuel policy which is 'full - return full'.) I've actually had a small UK Hertz office try to palm me off with a car that didn't have a full tank, and the manager was all too clearly hacked off with me for insisting that he send off one of the staff to refuel the car before I accepted it.

Fitch

On a related point, does anyone know how the Fuel Purchase Option fee is constructed (in the US, specifically CA) ?

I assume it's something like (Volume of gas tank x price per gallon) + service fee

If so, is there a standard volume figure per car model, per class, or what ?

The reason I ask is I got caught out by Avis UK a few years ago when the agent quoted me a competitive per gallon price, which I took... but the total charged was way more than I was expecting for such a small car

It turns out that they had a standard price per tank for the class which assumed a much bigger capacity than the car I took - so my fuel ended up costing 1/3 more than the local pump price

cestmoi123

I believe it's done as you describe (tank capacity*price per gallon), but also be aware that it (in most places) is taxable, so you'll be paying the car rental taxes (which are often in the 20% range) on top of normal fuel taxes.

ijgordon

That's a good question. I always assumed the tank capacity was model-specific, as opposed to class-specific. Either way, they'd probably have to disclose the tank capacity/full amount up front, and I suppose you could always google the actual tank capacity. If they tried to bill you for something different, it's borderline fraud.

Fitch

Well, it seems that the price of the Fuel Purchase Option at Hertz LAX is classified Top Secret SAP

Customer Services: "I don't have that information, Sir"

@Hertz: <no reply>

LAX location telephone: <never answered> (tried 5 times over 2 days)

I know it's not that big a deal, but if they were open about it up front, I could do the math and work out whether the premium is worth it to me for the convenience. If they're going to go all secret squirrel on me, I won't bother and that's simple lost revenue for them...

Very bizarre

cestmoi123

Well, the price of the fuel purchase option is going to vary from car to car, and from day to day (based on the price of gas). Without knowing both exactly what car you'll get, and what the price of gas will be on the day you arrive, it'd be impossible for anyone to answer that question.

That said, it's almost never a good option, since it only makes economic sense if you're going to bring the car back nearly empty. Otherwise, just bring it back full.